During the past week, White House staffers Rob Porter and David Sorenson resigned after their ex-wives – two for Porter – alleged they were physically abused by their husbands during their failed marriages. Porter denied the accusations and Sorenson not only denied them, but he said he himself was the victim of his wife’s physical abuse … and he produced photos of his injuries.
Nevertheless, both Porter’s and Sorenson’s lives are in ruins thanks to a #metoo movement that is running amok and ruining men right and left with allegations that may or may not be true.
The #metoo movement sprung up after a number of Hollywood actresses had accused movie mogul Harvey Weinstein of sexually abusing them. Apparently Weinstein is akin to the movie industry as Bernie Madoff was to the investment industry. There is little doubt that Weinstein was a sexually abusing pig, but didn’t that used to be referred to as the casting couch?
The #metoo movement gained traction after actress Rose McGowan’s fire and brimstone call to arms at the Women’s Conference in Detroit last October. Her fiery speech, in which she urged women to ‘call it out’ if they’ve ever been sexually harassed, may have been fueled by cocaine because on January 20, 2017, airport police at Washington’s Dulles International Airport found several baggies of coke among some belongings she inadvertently left behind on a United Airlines plane.
Crazy Rose’s tirades have not only led to the ruination of men, but they may have led to the suicide of her former manager Jill Messick. McGowan claims that in January 1997, Weinstein performed oral sex on her in a hot tub without her consent and that she has been depressed ever since. She implied that Messick was to blame because her then manager introduced her to Weinstein. Messick’s family says Rose’s “inaccurate accusations and insinuations against Jill” helped cause Messick to take her own life.
The torrent of accusation against men shows no end. It has gotten to the point that if a man gives a woman a second look, he is sexually harassing her. And how many of these accusations are nothing but phony baloney?
Reacting to the resignations of Porter and Sorenson, President Trump has now taken on the #metoo movement. On Saturday he tweeted:
“Peoples lives are being shattered and destroyed by a mere allegation. Some are true and some are false. Some are old and some are new. There is no recovery for someone falsely accused – life and career are gone. Is there no such thing any longer as Due Process?”
While men may applaud Trump’s tweet, not so with women. There has been an avalanche of social media comments coming down on Trump accusing him of disregarding the victimization of women. Hardly anyone is defending the President’s tweet. It seems clear that the feminists are finally winning their war on men.
As for Crazy Rose McGowan, when she got into that hot tub with Weinstein she had to know they were not in there to take a bath.
So Howie, I take it you are in favor of sexual abuse. Either that or you are utterly clueless as to how men in positions of power use that position to coerce women into doing things they would rather not do. Sort of like your fellow cops in the good old days beating confessions out of suspects who were actually innocent. I’m curious, how many of your fellow officers did you arrest for breaking the law? If the answer is “none”, then you were a big part of the problem too.
Ross, I beg your pardon! Where do I say anything about being in favor of sexual abuse? On the contrary, I have a daughter and two granddaughters, and I certainly would not want them to be abused, nor any other woman for that matter. But the #meetoo movement has gotten way out of hand, and I do not doubt that many of the accusations are phony baloney, or even deliberate attempts to ruin someone’s life.
But worst of all, there is your insulting crack about cops beating confessions out of innocent people. Sure, some of that took place in the good old days when I was a cop, but that was a very rare occurrence. I never arrested any cops for doing that because none of the cops I knew – and there were hundreds of them – ever did any thing like that. And, by the way, neither did I! You’ve hit a new low with your outrageous statements.
Porter’s life is not in ruins because of the #metoo movement, it is ruins because he beats women. My father taught there is no more cowardly act for a man than to hit a woman. You need to quit make excuses for men that have this problem and stop automatically assuming that the women are lying.
Mr. King, I’ve always respected you and supported you, but I’m beginning to have some doubts about you. I haven’t made any excuses for men that brat their wives and I certainly do not assume that the women are lying.
By your reasoning though, President Trump should resign from office because a dozen women have accused him of sexually abusing them. Since they are telling the truth, by your standards, this sexual predator should be in jail and not in the White House.
Howie, there are no pictures of Trump’s ex-wives with black eyes.
Right Bill, that’s because they were sexually abused,or so they claim. I mentioned the Sorenson photos only because most people cannot envision a wife physically abusing her husband. As for the black eye photo, Porter claimas that it is not what it appears to be … whatever that means. To put your mind at ease though, I have little doubt that Porter, and probably Sorenson too, are wife beaters. But did it ever occur to you that when their wives went to the FBI with their allegations, they were not doing it as a service to their country, but rather to get even? Just because I question their motives does not mean that in any way I approve of men beating up women.
Doubtless the me too movement has brought sexual abuse allegations to light that otherwise would have never been subject to accountability.
Just as doubtless accusations with no merit are raised. We need look no further than the Duke Lacrosse fiasco to know that false accusations are raised. In fact, studies show the prevalence is in the 2%-10% range. Two percent is within the expected statistical range. Ten percent is a dangerously high number. I haven’t seen any literature as far as false report incidence since the me too movement, but studies need to be done to track and see if there’s a rise.
The false accusations are especially damaging for two reasons. First, Due Process isn’t to be had in terms of harm to the falsely accused. Invariably some will believe that a woman wouldn’t make a false accusation and the falsely accused suffers permanent reputation harm even if vindicated. Second, the false accusations are demeaning to those who were victims.
Bill, what in the post supports your accusation that Howie automatically assumes the women are lying?
His statement that Porter’s life is in ruins because of the #metoo movement. He cites Sorenson’s photos but not Porter’s wife. Let’s be honest, sure there will be some false allegations, but that pales in comparison to women who are abused and not believed. I sat on a grand jury a few years ago and physical abuse by men against women goes on far more than I ever expected. Porter’s life is in ruins because of his own conduct, not because the women he slapped around came forward to complain.
Wives left husbands. People “left” their jobs. They are simply bad people. Take your stupid fucking politics out of it. Look at human decency. Get over yourself. I hope that when, not if, your children are approached by gross men or gross women they have someone to turn to because you clearly will not be there for them. You can’t point fingers at Bill Clinton and then sit on your haunches while our sitting president is a verified mysogynist pig just because it’s your “party”. As a woman, a mom, a business woman, a wife & a Republican your comments are offensive and cringe worthy. Why don’t you get a backbone, get over yourself & be a husband, father, son, friend & American. Your crap drives people away from our party. Your crap drives us away from a bigger and better good. STFU.
Thank you Tabitha, it has driven me away. I will never vote for a Republican again unless they start standing up for moral decency.
Given the long track record of the Democrats in this area, you’re gonna have a hard time voting at all!
Fact specific Mr. Albert, what long track record? It is easy to throw out allegations and some fools will believe them because you have an R in front of your name, I prefer an A for American, not an R or a D. I voted for McCain and never voted for Obama. I would vote for McCain again if he were running for president but he has something that the Republican party has lost, principles. To make it clear, McCain has stood up for moral decency and a few other Republicans have also. I have not found one author in this site that has.
“Moral Decency” Manny??? Would that be serial cheater JFK? Or accused rapist Bill Clinton? Or his long term enabler, wife Hillary? Perhaps your idea of “Moral Decency” Is the lecherous drunkard Ted Kennedy (we could ask Mary Jo Kopechne for an endorsement).
What about famous election fixer LBJ about whom one biographer wrote: (he was) “unencumbered by even the slightest excess weight of ideology, of philosophy, of principles, of beliefs.”? As for our former President Obama, I believe that his legacy is still being uncovered, along with the actions of Ms. Clinton in the recent campaign.
Please do not assume that I am, in any way, attempting to minimize the actions of President Trump. He’s as bad as the rest. I simply noted that if we were going to wit for a candidate who’s life actually reflected a decent set of morals, we might be waiting a long time.
And, while I’m thinking about it, speaking of “facts” please let me know when you encounter a ballot that has candidates with an “A” beside their name. As Robert Heinlein said, the difference between “bad” and “worse” is often far more relevant than the difference between good and bad. Especially in politics. Pick the least odious candidate and vote – or don’t vote at all and live with the winner that everyone else picked. Or, run yourself and give us all a chance to vote for a candidate with principles.
To me, the real point with this issue is that people are being tried and punished in the court of public opinion and not in a court of law.
Upvotes for Bill King, here. Also, the mens’ lives are not “destroyed.” People like Katz will still hire them. Beyond that, most people are willing to forgive others of their transgressions when they are apologetic and accept responsibility. I’m sure the men will be back on their feet in some time. They are not the victims here.
Most annoyingly about this whole #MeToo backlash is people not understanding due process. Due process is for the court room. There’s nothing you can do about the general public talking about you and forming opinions. Due process is only owed by the GOVERNMENT when they take life, liberty, or property. I can say Katz sounds like an idiot here if I want to without any due process at all. If it’s factually false, sue me for defamation. People are allowed their opinions in this country.
Last thing–I really hope President Trump’s embrace of due process and concern over prosecutorial overreach is legitimate and neutrally applied.
Thank you for your service in the Rose Army. This idiot also wants to thank you for your lesson on due process, although I’ll venture to say that I know far more about due process than you do.
The “lesson” wasn’t for you. I’m sure you’ve seen how much people are misapplying the term due process in this whole conversation (since you’re the expert). But your article was silly and kind of pointless. I’ve seen it written and rewritten and rewritten. So much so that it’s obvious that nuance does in fact still exist and there are people out there willing to parse through true and false accusations. The overwhelming #MeToo moment just might be that women are venting about things that have happened to them–not always to bring another person down, but to be able to air something they don’t want to feel shame over any longer.
To you this idiot’s article may be silly and pointless, to others it may be serious and spot on.
The #metoo movement, as you say, gives women a chance to vent, but when this movement fades away, a lot of men will have been unjustly ruined. Of course, people like Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey and their ilk deserve everything that’s coming to them.
OMG, you’ve just given this idiot an idea. Why don’t we start a #mentoo movement in which men can vent about how they’ve been sexually amused by women.
Amused?
I hope the movement brings change to how men think they can behave with women. I hope it’s lasting change. I hope it encourages women to come forward in real time.
Also, I doubt that everyone who’s been “outed” for their sexist behavior will have to hide away for the rest of their lives. It’s presumptuous to say they are destroyed. This whole thing began only in October.
I’m a woman, wife, mother, and grandmother and I think that women were brought up to the same level as men through Christ Jesus, the church, however, ignored our Savior’s teachings and decided to either suppress the scriptures or outright bastardized them, for their own agenda.
It is true that God has hierarchy because he is a God of order, but that does not mean one is less than the other, just as in the body all members are imperative for a well functioning body so it is with the Church one member is as valuable as the other. I must confess that it took God’s revelation for me to accept his hierarchy but by his grace I do today and needless to say life is easier and happier than before. I agree on men for the longest time has trampled on women’s rights, however, times are changing and women are gaining equal footing in society, never the less feminist are bent on destroying men even if takes lying, in other words, there is no balance in their allegations all they need is to say the word and men’s carriers, reputation is destroyed in a blink of an eye. I have two sons and two grandsons, I taught my sons to respect women, even they would not respect them back, as my Father use to say”A man who hits a woman is no a man”. reasonably one of my sons suffered from woman’s harassment at work, he was patient but smart at the same time, he allowed his superiors to watch the situation, finally his superior intervened, the woman was discipline, she did not like and quit her work. If any woman is harassed by a man and has proof of it I applaud her if she holds the man accountable, but if she lies for, whatever, the reason may be she deserves to be reprimanded right away. The laws of this Country were meant for all its citizens not just for one selected group.
Mr. Katz, I’ve seen the recent double standard applied where the accusation alone seems to force the male to prove he didn’t commit an offense, the inability to prove a negative lost on some people. But for the most part, women that accuse men of misconduct have long been subjected to a similar dilemma where they are not believed all too often, the process of uncovering the truth typically subjecting women to ridicule, badgering, and being bullied. As the pendulum swings back and forth on things such as this, there will always be those who jump on the bandwagon of automatically believing one side or the other before having any objective facts to make such decisions, just look at some of the replies above to see examples of this.
But I ask you, shouldn’t all such allegations be treated equally with respect just as we should reserve judgement on the accused until they have their case heard? Anyone that pays attention can surely come up with examples of false accusations. Greg brings up the Duke case, someone else might mention the false accusations of Twanna Brawley, and it’s nothing new as we recall from the Salem Witch Trials. One of the problems we face these days is that Hollywood has so popularized false accusations as a means of dramatizing stories, it being one of the most overused plot devices, that many are convinced the practice is far more common than it is. Most studies show completely false accusations are relatively rare but you have a point when you bring up that modern day politics has a way of creating an atmosphere conducive to embellishments, our host Mr. Jennings points them out all the time in this very blog.
Peter, your comment is spot on. And I do agree with you that all such allegations should be treated equally with respect. People have been misreading this post, suggesting that I approve of sexual harassment, wife beating, and that I think all the women complainants are liars. It’s an ‘in the eye of the beholder’ thing … people see what they want to in what I write.
“people see what they want to in what I write.”
Truth.
“I ask you, shouldn’t all such allegations be treated equally with respect just as we should reserve judgement on the accused until they have their case heard?”
That’s what should happen. But, it’s also something that should be kept out of the public view until such a time as the case is resolved.
“One of the problems we face these days is that Hollywood has so popularized false accusations as a means of dramatizing stories, it being one of the most overused plot devices, that many are convinced the practice is far more common than it is.”
The FBI reported false rape accusations for 3 years, and had a rate of 8% each year. This compares to a 2% general false reporting rate in the same time period. Insofar as how does that compare to an individual’s subjective belief everyone will have draw their own conclusions.
Howie, I believe that women and men are sexually harassed. As a former State of Texas public servant, and supervisor I attended mandatory education about sexual harassment. I also taught Sexual Assault and Family Violence to police officers. However, I know people will make accusations where no violation exists. It’s a sad state of affairs when someone can be ruined by an accusation with no bearing of fact.
Ross, I have retired from law enforcement after 42 years. I take exception to your comments about the good old days when cops beat confessions out of suspects who were actually innocent. I think you might watch too much television drama. I must have missed the beatings while serving the citizens of Texas. Sadly, there were occasions where I did have to investigate officers and file on them. Police officers aren’t super heroes, just people trained to do a job and yes they make mistakes.